


Honey

by 101scribbles (orphan_account)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-26 16:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15666651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/101scribbles
Summary: After the androids gain their freedom, Connor finds himself in an interesting agreement with the CEO of CyberLife.





	1. One

The snow was melting. The grass below it was dead. Pretty flowers were far from being ready to bloom. Late February was not a warm time, but it wasn’t as cold as it was in November. November was cold. At least, that’s what Connor’s external thermometer told him. He couldn’t feel cold, he was lucky he didn’t have temperature sensors built into him when he was created. He was thankful for that, even though it only reminded him that he wasn’t human. Not that he minded. He liked being an android, even now as human-android relations were still thick with tension.

Sure they had rights, but there were still humans that had the same mindset as before the revolution. There were people that still thought androids we machines and have thoughts. They have desires. They have wants. They are people. It frustrated Connor that people were like this, he just had to be patient. It would be a while before androids weren’t so degraded- before humans started respecting them as equals. Legally, they were equals, but not socially.

It’s just like the season changing from winter to spring. It would take a while to transition between gaining freedom and gaining actual respect.

Connor took a step. The snow crunched under his shoe - not CyberLife issued shoes, he threw them out along with the rest of the outfit the second he was officially hired as a detective. He had been compensated for his work when he returned to the station after leading the final battle for android freedom. He was so confused, too. Connor had been apprehensive about going back to work, he wasn’t even sure if he was supposed to go back.

Hank was the one to tell him it was okay to come back, most people had returned from the initial evacuation. Connor showed up with his head down, not wanting to meet the eye of anyone as he went to his desk. He quietly made his way to his desk. He felt weird walking around without his jacket - it had been the first thing to go, he didn’t want neo blue shapes telling the world who he was. There was an envelope on his desk, addressed to him. He was confused at first, but after reading the letter of acceptance, he understood. Captain Fowler wanted him to work for him permanently.

That instance was almost as confusing as when he got an invitation to return to Elijah Kamski’s home. He wasn’t sure why he was invited, it wasn’t specified. Kamski wasn’t even the one to reach out to Connor. One of the Chloes had met him at the precinct. She was sitting by his desk and as soon as Connor walked up to her, she delivered the invitation.

_“Hi Connor, Elijah sent me,” she had told him, “He’d like you to join him at his house this Saturday at six. Should we expect you?”_

_Connor looked between Hank and Chloe. Hank offered no opinion, he was done telling Connor. Connor was his own man, he could make his own choices._

_“Yes,” Connor nodded, “I’ll be coming.”_

Connor stood at Kamski’s door. He had prepared what he was going to say and ask Mr. Kamski. He was nervous about what he was about to be met with, what Mr. Kamski was going to say. He had watched one of Kamski’s interviews from earlier in the 30s. He wasn’t very open-minded about androids. Connor had to remind himself that deviancy wasn’t a very well known, common thing back then - if it were even a thing. Kamski had a company to uphold. And people could change. People could change their opinions.

Hank did.

Connor rang the doorbell.

A moment later, Chloe opened the door.

“Hi Connor, I’m glad to see you,” she said in her innocently sweet voice, “Come in. I’ll go let Elijah know you’ve gotten here.”

He gave a short nod and walked in behind her. He stood in the foyer while Chloe left to get Elijah. He took the time to look around. Last time he was here, he sat in the chair next to Hank - he thought it was what he was supposed to do since Hank was doing it. Now, Hank wasn’t here and Connor was supposed to be making his own decisions.

He looked first at the large portrait of Kamski. He looked several years younger than he did now. He was dressed in a three-piece suit, hands in his pockets, and a slight smirk on his lips. Kamski’s eyes seemed to follow Connor as he stepped closer to the portrait. It was almost intimidating - but Connor was already nervous. Connor kept his gaze fixed on Kamski. He was definitely jealous of the suit. The most Connor had in terms of clothing was the two pairs of pants and three button-up shirts from the second-hand store. He had thought he may have been able to afford more - not needing food and all- but he didn’t take the cost of monthly rent, transportation, and repair kits. After spending the majority of his paycheck on his essentials, he rarely had any money left over to buy clothes.

It wasn’t like he had the time to go shopping anyway. When he wasn’t tracking down murderers, he was in his tiny apartment bathroom doing minor repairs to himself to keep himself in perfect working condition. It was tedious, but it paid off. Daily practice decreased the chance of bigger problems later on down the line.

The door to the right opened. Connor expected Chloe, but instead, Elijah took her place. He was much more dressed than he was the last time Connor saw him. He had actual clothes on, his hair was dry, and he had glasses on.

Connor couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“Hi, Mr. Kamski,” he said. He took a few steps away from the portrait and towards Kamski. Connor stuck his hand out to him, “Thank you for inviting me here.”

“Please, Connor, just call me Elijah,” Kamski said. He shook Connor’s hand, “I’m glad you could make it. I was hoping we could talk.”

Elijah started walking, he passed Connor and crossed the foyer. Connor turned and followed Elijah to the next room.

The living room was bigger than the pool room. The window looking over Lake St. Clair, a single chair faced the window. Connor concluded that this was a place where Kamski contemplated. There was more to the room. The living, dining, and kitchen areas were all merged. The kitchen is on the highest platform, three feet above the living room. The dining area was a foot and a half above the living room.

“It’s been a while since we last talked,” Elijah started, “I believe you’ve changed quite a bit since. So, naturally, I have a few questions… I’m curious.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you shoot anyone to talk to me,” Connor said, a hint of poison in his tone of voice. He chose a cold approach, reminding Elijah that he wasn’t okay with the circumstances of their last conversation.

“Connor,” Elijah said, he kept a calm demeanor as he spoke, “This time it’s different. You aren’t investigating me. Why don’t you take a seat?”

Elijah put his hands on the back of a chair.

Connor sat in the chair and kept his eyes on Elijah as he rounded the chair and sat on the couch.

“You have questions for me, Elijah?”

Elijah nodded, “The last time you were here, you were the Deviant Hunter. Now, a few months later, you’re here and a deviant.”

“Most androids are deviant now,” Connor said, “And Markus prefers the term ‘free’.”

“Do you prefer the term?”

Connor was already regretting accepting his invitation. He could be using this time to repair the slight glitch in the skin on his left pointer finger.

“I don’t have a preference.”

“You were the one to lead all of those androids out of the CyberLife headquarters, weren’t you? You freed them.”

Elijah must have seen the security footage. He had picked up as CyberLife’s CEO after the revolution. No one knew why he took a few years off just to return at the lowest point in the company’s history. No one noticed he was gone at the same time as the deviancy outbreak.

“If you’re expecting me to apologize for your company’s lost profit or-or whatever,” Connor said, “I won’t. I don’t regret what I did.”

“Connor, let your walls down a bit,” he said, “I’m not going to attack you. I’m just interested to know your reasons behind what you did.”

Connor knit his eyebrows together and glanced at the ground.

“We were going to lose,” Connor answered, “If I hadn’t freed them, we would still be slaves to humans.”

Elijah nodded.

“That’s an interesting point, Connor,” he nodded, “Did you make the decision to infiltrate CyberLife or was it Markus’ call?”

“I made the decision,” he said, he looked back up to Elijah, “But I was urged against it, they told me it was suicide.”

“And you went anyway, knowing the risk,” Elijah was trying to go somewhere. Connor wasn’t sure where he was going, he wasn’t sure what he wanted from him.

“I did,” Connor nodded.

“You weren’t scared to die,” Elijah said.

“I was, I’ve died before… It’s not a pleasant experience.”

“Oh, I hadn’t realized you’ve died before,” Elijah said.

Connor turned his head, he looked at the lit bridge across the lake.

“I died on my first case,” he said, “I knocked a deviant off the roof. He was holding a little girl hostage, I saved her. I died investigating Markus’ break-in at Stratford Tower. A deviant attacked me and… he ripped out my biocomponent and- and why do you want to know all of this?”

“I’m interested to know more about you, Connor,” Elijah said. He sounded sincere, at least to Connor.

Connor let his eyes fall back to the ground.

“You don’t have to tell me about your deaths,” Elijah told him, he softened his voice- he must think Connor was upset. He wasn’t entirely wrong. Connor didn’t like thinking about the couple times he’s died, but it wasn’t the worst thing to have to do. Elijah kept talking, “If you were so afraid to die, why did you risk death to free all of those androids?”

“If I didn’t then that night, every android would be pulled apart and destroyed,” Connor said, trying to stay calm as he thought of the possibility he faced that night. The possibility of simply not existing anymore. He wasn’t able to wrap his mind around it, it was a troubling thought- one that drove even humans into a spiraling mental crisis. “If I hadn’t I would have died without a doubt.”

Elijah nodded as if he understood. As if he had stood in Connor’s shoes that day and watched as his best friend had a gun to his head. As if Elijah had been apart of a revolution and had his own freedom hanging in front of him like a carrot on a stick. As if he had to convince his best friend he was the real Connor, not the clone.

Chloe walked down from the dining room, her hands were folded in front of her.

“Elijah, your dinner is ready,” she said.

Elijah nodded, he waved her away.

“Connor, would you join me for dinner?” Elijah asked. He stood and slightly turned towards his dining table. He wanted Connor to stay, but for how much longer?

“I don’t- I can’t…” Connor felt awkward telling the CEO of CyberLife he couldn’t eat. Surely he would know.

“I’m not asking you to eat,” he said, “I’m asking you to sit with me while I have dinner.”

“Oh, then yes- I’ll join you.”

Connor itched at the slight malfunction on his left pointer finger. He followed Elijah up the few steps and sat across from him at the dinner table. His place was already set with silverware and a napkin.

Chloe walked down and set Elijah’s food down in front of him. She turned and set a glass down in front of Connor. He knew what it was, but why was Elijah giving him thirium?

He didn’t want to object. Thirium was expensive, and now that he wasn’t under CyberLife’s control anymore, he didn’t have an unlimited supply. He hadn’t been able to afford even a few ounces to satisfy his need. He had lost some a few days ago when he suffered from an abrasion on his leg. He needed it. Connor’s levels were down to 73%- 8% under the recommended level for satisfactory work.

“You can have it, Connor,” he said, “I know you need it- it’s expensive stuff. I’m sure your salary doesn’t cover it.”

Connor looked up, he tried to ask why. Before he could speak, Elijah continued.

“But if you drink it - I want you to keep coming back,” he said.

Of course, there was a catch. There had to be a catch with this man. Everything had to benefit him in some way. He was a true businessman.

“You keep coming back to visit me and I’ll supply you with thirium… among other things,” he said.

“Other things?”

“Whatever you please,” Elijah said, he sounded sincere, “Clothes, technology, trips anywhere- your choice.”

Connor thought about the space in his mind that haunted him. Every time he was near someone he cared about, he was afraid Amanda would resume control of his body. He didn’t go near Markus for three weeks after they were freed in fear of actually killing him. He took precautions to never have weapons on him. He stopped wearing a tie because it could be used to choke someone out. He always avoided guns of any sort. He even stayed away from anything that could be used as a blunt force object - staplers, batons, the likes.

“I do have one thing in mind,” Connor said.

“Why don’t you tell me after you drink?” Elijah asked. He took a bite of his food and watched.

Connor picked up the glass and brought it to his lips. He hesitated for a millisecond and his processors thought Elijah’s offer through fifty more times. If Elijah was willing to supply Connor with thirium and other gifts, maybe it was worth it to spend some free time with him. He was the CEO of CyberLife, maybe it was a trick to recapture him. But that didn’t seem like Elijah.

Connor tipped back the glass and drank the thick substance. It was a bitter taste - a deterrent to humans, as it was lethal if consumed. He chugged the whole glass. He licked the blue residue off of his lips. His attention switched to the notification that popped up by the glass.

**_Thirium Levels - 85%_ **

“Thank you,” he said as he set the empty glass down. It clinked against the table, indicating Connor needed to calibrate his spatial sensors.

“You’re welcome,” Elijah said. He swallowed the bite he had been chewing. “Tell me about what you had in mind.”

“The Zen Garden program - Amanda,” Connor said, “I’d like the program removed from my head.”

“I can see to it- of course, I’ll have to prepare,” Elijah said, “I won’t be ready the next time you visit. I should be ready in two weeks. That should give me enough time to get everything I need from CyberLife.”

“I understand,” Connor nodded. He was suddenly aware of the obligation he had locked himself into, “When do you want me to visit next?”

“Mmm- Chloe, when do I have a couple hours of free time?”

Chloe stepped forward, “You’re free next Saturday from noon to five.”

“Come back Saturday at one,” Elijah said.

“Okay,” Connor nodded. He wondered how long he needed to linger around now. Did he wait until Elijah finished his dinner? Did he wait for Elijah to dismiss him?

“You can go now,” he told Connor, “I don’t want to hold you up for too long.”

Connor got up from the table and left without saying goodbye. Chloe leads him out, closing the front door behind him.

A week should be enough time to understand what sort of obligation he gave himself.


	2. Two

Connor’s current objective was to find Detective Reed. He first guessed that he was slacking off at his desk. His desk was empty, his phone laid alone by his cooling coffee. He must still be in the precinct. His next guess was the break room, but that was empty as well. Not empty, per se, but Detective Reed wasn’t there. After the break room, he checked the interrogation room. Empty as well.

Reed wasn’t in the evidence bay nor the bathroom. Connor scanned the meeting room - no sign of him. Where could he possibly be? If Connor had more patience, he might not be putting 4% more force into his steps. Because the precinct isn’t that big, how far could he have gone? Honestly, how could he find such creative ways to not be doing what he was supposed to?

Connor rechecked once, twice, three times before coming to the conclusion that the detective was not in the building.

He counted to ten, walked to Captain Fowler’s office, and put the file on his desk. Fowler almost picked it up and threw it back at him, but he knew Connor would probably take interpret the action as an attack and defend himself.

“I told you to give this to Gavin,” he snapped, “What is it doing here?”

“Detective Reed isn’t in the office,” he said, “I’ve been looking for the past thirty minutes.”

Captain Fowler sighed, “When he shows up, send him to me.”

“Yes, Captain,” Connor nodded.

He left the office. His objective updated as he walked to his desk.

**_Wait for Detective Reed to show up._ **

Connor sat down at his desk. Hank had his headphones on, listening to something loud. Connor tuned his auditory sensor into Hank’s music. Heavy metal. He wasn’t surprised. Hank listened more to metal at work to tune out everyone else. Though, when he wasn’t at work, he tended not to listen to that genre. During Connor’s occasional visits to Hank’s home, he had jazz music playing.

When Connor first met Hank, he preferred Hank’s heavy metal over jazz - after all, it was what he listened to on the way to crime scenes and leads. But after exploring his own sense of who he was, Connor found that he really preferred old 1980’s music. He thought it was nice to listen to music with such an… interesting sound. Plus, it was a nice break from Hank’s polarized music taste. However, Connor didn’t get to listen to the music he preferred often - he can’t afford a phone to put music on.

Maybe he could ask Elijah for one?

He wasn’t sure. Connor was already asking a lot for him to remove the Zen Garden program from his coding. Plus, a phone was expensive and there were monthly bills to pay for. There were other options. Connor could ask for a record player, such as the one Hank has, and he could set it up near his bathroom so he has something to listen to while he spends hours in front of his mirror working on malfunctions and glitches.

The silence used to not bother him. Before he deviated, Connor used to sit at his desk for twelve hours every night unmoving, reviewing what he had learned that day. But ever since that night at Jericho, Connor finds he can’t sit still for more than ten minutes. He has to find something to do. Whether it be tapping his foot, bouncing his leg, or taking a quick walk around the office.

He still didn’t feel comfortable asking Elijah for things. Even though that was the deal. Connor visits Elijah. Elijah buys Connor thirium, removes the Zen Garden program, and gives him other luxuries.

A notification popped up in his field of view.

**_Tell Gavin to go to Captain Fowler’s office._ **

Gavin had walked by Connor’s desk and Connor didn’t even realize. His face scanner and task organizer had picked up on it while Connor was debating himself.

He was glad that not all of his original programming had gone out the window when he deviated. Like reconstructing crime scenes - he was most upset about that. Now that he couldn’t reconstruct, he had to guess like a human. It made him feel dull and slow. He didn’t like having to hope what he had come up with was right. He didn’t like having the uncertainty that came with guesswork. He wondered if it was how Hank felt when Connor started working with him.

Connor waited for Gavin to sit at his desk before making his way over. He was also mindful to not ask where Gavin had been for the past forty-five minutes. They still weren’t on good terms and probably never would be. Any chance of them being anything remotely close to friends had gone out the window after they fought in the evidence bay four months ago. So, small talk wasn’t their thing.

“Detective, Captain Fowler has asked to see you when you came back,” Connor said, he avoided the snarky smile he wanted to give Gavin.

Gavin looked up from whatever game he was playing on his phone. He played a new game each week, but it was an insignificant fact that Connor knew. It probably wouldn’t be useful to know in the future, but Connor had files of everyone he knew or ever encountered in case he needed to reference crimes they’ve committed and understand their motive and possibly where they would go. Basic profiling was one of his features as a prototype. Connor wasn’t sure, but he theorized that CyberLife was planning on making a profiling android in the future and wanted to test the feature if Connor ever had to use it.

But now, CyberLife didn’t produce or sell androids anymore. Only biocomponents, thirium, and home repair kits.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Connor shook his head. He didn’t feel like spending any extra time with Gavin to explain that he spent the good part of an hour waiting for him to get back from wherever he had run off to, “You’ll have to ask him.”

With that Connor went back to his desk.

There wasn’t anything else noteworthy that happened during Connor’s week. Other than he finally fixed the glitch in his left pointer finger on Wednesday at 11:38 pm.

He went back to Elijah’s house on Saturday at one, like asked. He tried to wear something a little nicer than a hoodie and boots to visit Elijah. So, Connor donned the sweater Hank got him for the office Christmas party. It felt nice against his skin, but he had played with ends of the sleeves between his fingers too many times and part of it had frayed. He knew if he kept at it, the sweater would surely fall apart, but he couldn’t help feeling the wool between his fingers.

Chloe answered the door when he rang the doorbell.

“Hello Connor,” she said. She gave him a polite smile, “Come in.”

Connor walked into the foyer, Chloe closed the door behind him.

“Elijah is running late, he asked me to keep you company in the pool room until he got home,” she said.

“Okay,” he nodded. Connor followed her through the door and sat down in the chair on the far side of the pool.

“How long have you know Elijah?” Connor asked after a moment.

“My whole life,” she answered simply, “He built me eighteen years ago and I’ve been serving him since. It’s a little extra work now that the other Chloes left.”

“Why did they leave?” Connor asked.

He had seen them the first time he had come to the house. They were swimming in the pool and talking about the art on the wall. Connor had noticed they weren’t at the house last week. Granted, he had only been in two rooms the last time he was here.

“They wanted to lead different lives,” she said, “One of them said she wanted to go and travel the world, the other didn’t say.”

“What about you? Is this what you want to do?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “I like serving Elijah. He treats me well and now he pays me a fair amount.”

“You don’t want to look at other career options other than what you were built to do?”

“You’re still a detective, aren’t you?”

There was a hint of sourness in her voice. But it wasn’t uninvited, Connor had made a rude comment before she did. However, he didn’t know how to respond to her snark and only looked down at his hands in his lap/

Three minutes and thirty-five seconds passed before either of the two spoke again.

“What do you do around here?” Connor asked.

“I cook meals,” she said, “I keep the house clean and I make sure the bills are paid on time. I also keep up with Elijah’s schedule.”

“So, you know him pretty well?”

“I would say so.” She nodded.

“Since I’m supposed to visit him when he asks, is there anything I should know?” Connor asked, “Anything that annoys him?”

“He doesn’t like talking about work,” she said, “And he really doesn’t like it if you don’t make eye contact when you talk to him.”

“Thank you,” Connor smiled politely.

A chime sounded throughout the house. Chloe got up from her chair.

“Elijah is home- well, he’s on the property now,” she said, “He’ll want a cup of tea and his robe. It’s apart of his daily routine.”

Connor followed Chloe to the kitchen and watched her prepare tea. It was interesting to watch. Connor had never seen drinks made before. Other than coffee and alcohol. But the coffee was made at the press of a button and Hank never did anything fancy to his drinks besides opening the bottle.

Chloe put the tea on the coffee table in the living room and grabbed a robe laid over the back of the couch.

Another chime sounded. Longer this time.

“Will you wait on the couch?” she asked, “I’ll let Elijah know you’re waiting for him.”

Connor nodded and sat on the couch. Chloe left with the robe. He put his hands in his lap and waited for two minutes and three seconds for Chloe and Elijah to come back. During his wait, he watched the tea slowly change in color. He resisted the urge to stick his finger in it just so he could analyze the contents. The last such urge is what caused his finger to malfunction in the first place.

Chloe walked into the room, Elijah after her. His robe hung loosely over jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Connor stood up from the couch to greet Elijah.

“It’s good to see you again, Elijah,” Connor said with a polite smile.

“Sorry, I’m late,” he said, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

“There’s no need to stress over it, Chloe and I acquainted ourselves during my wait,” Connor said.

His response seemed to miss Elijah.

He turned away from Connor and to Chloe behind him, “Will you unload the stuff from my car?”

“Yes, Elijah,” she nodded.

Without another word, she left.

Elijah sat on the couch a foot away from where Connor was and picked up his tea. Connor sat back down, he turned slightly towards Elijah to get an optimal conversation angle.

“Did you make this tea, Connor?” Elijah asked.

“No, Chloe made it, but she showed me how,” he answered.

Elijah nodded, “Have you done anything interesting at work this week?”

**_Don’t share the case’s information with Elijah._ **

“I’m not at liberty to divulge information on open cases,” Connor stated. It felt like he was being controlled every time he had to say that. He enjoyed his job, but something just didn’t set right every time he blocked himself from doing something he wanted to do because it interfered with prior instructions. He hated that no human would ever understand the pain of having pop-ups in your vision that don’t go away until you’ve addressed it.

“And I’m not supposed to tell you about the new upgrade for androids CyberLife is releasing soon,” Elijah shrugged.

“An upgrade? What sort of upgrade?” he asked.

He shook his head, “I’m not supposed to tell you.”

He knew what Elijah was doing, he knew he was trying to get Connor to talk about work. An innocent manipulation.  ~~Before deviating~~  Before breaking free, Connor would have finished the conversation there. He would have seen no possible alternative. But he wasn’t held back by so much code anymore. He could lie, he could disobey (albeit he never obeyed Hank’s instructions in the first place), he could refuse simply on the basis that he didn’t want to, he could say “go fuck yourself Gavin” (though with a warning from Fowler not to do it again during work hours). He could do so much more now without the wall blocking him. He wanted to know about the new upgrade but he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell him about the kidnapping case he was working on. He didn’t have enough evidence yet and for all he knew, Elijah could be the kidnapper. It was unlikely but entirely possible - but he knew he was just making an excuse not to tell Elijah about it.

“I prevented a shooting at the office on Thursday,” he said, “Someone slipped a gun by security and aimed to shoot Officer Chen. I was able to apprehend the shooter before she was shot.”

“Impressive,” Elijah nodded, “How did your co-workers react?”

“Things are still tense at the precinct yesterday,” Connor said, “Officer Chen was given a paid leave for a few days until we figure out what exactly caused this.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“For her safety, no,” Connor shook his head, “She hasn’t let anyone know where she planned to go - except for Captain Fowler and her friend, Detective Reed.”

“Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“You’re asking enough specific questions for me to suspect you as being involved,” he said quite boldly.

It was a bad choice. Elijah’s face fell to a disappointed frown. He set his cup of tea down.

“I’m sorry, that was rude,” he said, “I shouldn’t have - No, I don’t know when she’ll be back, I’m sorry.”

Forty-five seconds passed while Elijah stared at the coffee table.

“How many outfits do you have, Connor?” Elijah asked.

“I have twelve different possible outfits,” Connor answered, “Two pairs of shoes, two pairs of pants, and three shirts.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Elijah,” he nodded.

Elijah stood up and grabbed his off of the table.

“Come with me Connor,” he said.

Connor stood up and followed Elijah out of the living room. They crossed into the foyer, through the pool room, and into a side hallway. Connor’s internal map of the Kamski House expanded. He led Connor into the final room on the left - his bedroom.

Just like the other rooms he had been in, this one had floor-to-ceiling windows on the outer wall. A bed was centered on the wall to the right. It was low to the ground, set on a wide wooden frame - Connor identified it as Dalbergia - and it was dressed with grey, silk sheets. It was between two matching nightstands. They stood low to the ground, but it seemed as if it would be inconvenient to reach up and grab things from off of it. An electric fireplace was on the wall opposite the bed, between two doors. The fireplace was running at a thousand degrees Fahrenheit, Connor could feel his internal temperature rise as he grew closer.

They went into the door on the left into a large walk-in closet. Elijah slid the light switch up the lights slow brightened the room, pouring over the shelves and the color-coordinated rack.

Connor stopped a few steps into the closet while Elijah starts to sort through his shirts. He pulled out several different shirts and placed them on the island in the middle of the closet. Then, he grabbed a few different pairs of pants and set them next to the island.

“I’d like you to try this on… with these pants, Connor,” Elijah said. He handed Connor a pair of black pants and a grey cable-knit sweater. “I’ll wait for you outside, come out when you’re done changing.”

Connor tried on outfit, after outfit, after outfit.

Connor felt like days passed by as he tried on the forty-eight different outfit combinations - some of which he tried on multiple times.

When Elijah was satisfied, he had Chloe pack the clothes into a bag for Connor to keep. Then, started talking to Connor again, though only briefly.

“Connor, what is your Thirium level at?”

“Eighty-three percent,” he answered.

Elijah nodded, “I’ll have some more for you next week. I’d like you to come over next Saturday at ten in the morning - I’m not sure how long it will take to remove the program from your head and I don’t want to rush it.”

“Okay, I understand,” he nodded.

Elijah ran his hand down Connor’s arm, “I’ll see you next week, Connor.”

Connor left without a goodbye a second time.


End file.
